NAU partners with Communiversity @ Surprise

by Lesley Wright - Sept. 8, 2011 12:00 AMArizona Business Gazette

The Communiversity @ Surprise has had gains and losses since opening its doors and online portals two years ago.

A new partnership with Northern Arizona University is a recent gain that should help bolster the higher-education center, which brings community colleges together with four-year universities under one roof.

The Communiversity concept allows students to transition from the community-college programs into the universities without ever leaving the building on Surprise's Civic Center Plaza. A vocational high-school program, Western Maricopa Education Center, or West-MEC, lures students early in their academic careers.

Two of the four-year universities left during the Communiversity's first 18 months.

Western International University, which specializes in online education, never followed through with a Communiversity contract, said Delynn Bodine, a spokeswoman for Rio Salado College.

Texas-based University of the Incarnate Word, pulled out of Arizona altogether. That left Ottawa University as the only four-year college.

The addition of NAU should help fill that void and attract new students because of the university's "strong and valued reputation," said Rio Salado President Chris Bustamante.

Douglas Small, associate dean of NAU's extended campuses, said that NAU already has solid programs with three partners at the Communiversity - Rio Salado College and Glendale and Phoenix community colleges. Students on those campuses also can work on NAU degrees.

"We are working with them to build that pipeline at Surprise," he said.

NAU helps fill some gaps

The Communiversity has attracted more than 2,400 students since programs got fully under way about 18 months ago. About 1,000 of those students are online.

When the facility opened, officials had big dreams, estimating enrollment would reach 10,000. That hasn't happened, but supporters say it could reach those numbers over time through slow, steady growth.

Todd Aakhus, who directs the Communiversity, said that NAU will offer some needed educational pathways, including health care and technology management, for upperclassmen.

Some NAU programs, such as a master's degree in educational administration, will fit teachers and administrators in the area's K-12 school systems.

Since its opening, Communiversity health-care programs have been a big draw for the hospital-heavy West Valley, along with general studies and liberal-arts programs.

Aakhus said that administrators continue to work on the institutional model, so students can transition easily from community college to higher education.

Aakhus said the NAU partnership moves the Communiversity one step closer to meeting its goals - serving the area's educational needs, offering flexibility and access as well as options and values.